Blackstone Invests in Data Center Shell Properties

Blackstone’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan

NEW YORK CITY—Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and Columbia, Md.-based Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) have formed a joint venture in which Blackstone will acquire seven of COPT’s single-tenant data center shell properties, which also contain 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space, for $265 million. The joint venture will be owned 90% by BREIT and 10% by COPT, which received $238.5 million in proceeds from the deal.

This is a new partnership, according to COPT CEO Stephen E. Budorick. The transaction, he says in prepared remarks, “demonstrates the strength of demand for strategically located data center shell properties leased to high credit tenants.”